


I Know

by louiscontroll



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Genderbending, Genderswap, Mother!Harry, Policeman Niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-26 06:12:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2641085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louiscontroll/pseuds/louiscontroll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Nairrys and the prompt:</p><p>"Harry is a single mother of an adorable four year old daughter, who just so happened to get a hold of her mother's phone and ended up calling the police. They send out Officer Niall Horan to her house to make sure everything is okay. Harry's daughter ends up inviting Niall in for dinner and he agrees because it was the end of his shift. By the end of the night, Niall ends up asking Harry on a date, and she accepts. Writer can take the rest and run with it."</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Know

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nairrys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nairrys/gifts).



"Leia! _Leia!_ "

Harry cursed as the phone rang, outranking her voice in volume, even though the television, mixer and kettle had already done it. There was no way Leia was coming now. As much as Harry loved her daughter, it was impossible to get her to do anything she didn't want to.

The phone rang again, sharply cutting through the already loud house. "I'm coming," Harry sighed, rushing over to the phone after making sure nothing in the kitchen was burning. She had to move aside what seemed like a hundred things just to find the phone, but she finally found it. "Hello?" she asked, nice and calm, but then she took a step forwards and the old cord phone almost tore out of the wall.

"Oh, great. That's just great," Harry muttered, then saying, "No, I'm not interested in buying a new credit card - how does that even work? But thanks. Yeah, you too, okay, bye," only slightly louder. She finally made sure the phone was intact, took one step back, just to find Leia holding on to her leg.

"There you are," Harry said, sighing in relief. "Where've you been, baby?"

"Playing with Red!" Leia replied, the excitement in her voice finding its way into Harry as well. "He says hi!"

"Hi, Red." Red was Leia's imaginary friend. Occasionally, he'd pop up when Leia was bored, and then Harry would humour her for a few days until he went away again. Harry smiled, but just as she was about to speak again, a sudden beeping noise split the air, almost making Harry curse. Sure enough, the smell of smoke had just reached her nose.

Quickly, she opened the oven, but she wasn't fast enough. The chicken that she'd been cooking was burnt, just a blackened crisp now. She pulled it out and surveyed the damage, but there was nothing to be done. "Rest in peace, little chicken," she sighed, closing the oven and turning off the smoke alarm.

When she turned back around, Leia was staring at her with wide eyes. "Mommy, I'm hungry."

Harry bit her lip, taking one final look at the chicken, before sighing and shaking her head. "Alright, why don't we order pizza tonight?"

The smile that broke out on Leia's face was enough to convince Harry. She cast one look at the cord phone and the small hole she'd made in the wall before scoffing and going into the other room to find her cell. Like she was ever giving that phone the satisfaction of being used again.

Leia, however, was not as unforgiving. As soon as Harry had left the room to make the call, her eyes fell on the cord phone. She was _really_ bored, after all, and even Red was telling her to, so she picked it up and stared at the numbers. She knew that phones were used to talk to people, but she didn't quite know how she was supposed to get the people to talk to her.

Her mom had always said to call 9-1-1 in case of an "emergency" and they could help her. Leia was pretty sure that boredom was an "emergency." Besides, her mom was taking _forever_ on the phone. And what was she supposed to do while she was waiting for the pizza to come?

She dialed in the numbers and she heard a ringing sound before someone answered the call. “This is 911, what is your emergency?”

Honestly, now Leia was stumped. She’d been so focused on figuring out _how_ to use the phone, she didn’t think of what to do now that she had. “Hi,” she replied finally. That’s what her mom always did, anyways. “My name’s Leia. What’s yours?”

There was a short silence on the other end but finally the person said, “I’m sorry, this is 911. Do you have an emergency?”

“I don’t know,” Leia answered honestly. What did count as an emergency, anyways? She was going to answer, when she heard her mom ending her call in the other room, so she just said, “I have to go now. Bye!”

“I got pepperoni, your favourite!” Harry announced when she came back in the room, smiling when she saw Leia holding the phone.

“Look, mom!” her daughter cried. “I’m all grown-up!”

“You sure are,” Harry laughed, bending down to her level. “Now, c’mon. Why don’t we go play while we wait for the pizza?”

-*-*-*-*-*-

“Got your black coffee, you strange person.” Niall chuckled as his partner, Louis, handed him his coffee, burning hot and black, just how he liked it. Louis got in the police car and shut the door but he didn’t stop talking. “Seriously, I don’t get you.”

“C’mon, Lou, we’ve been over this,” Niall laughed. “It’s the only respectable way to drink coffee. That way, there’s no hiding behind syrups and flavourings.” He finished the statement by making absurd gestures towards Louis’ coffee, which was _filled_ with flavourings and sugar.

“Just because we’ve been over this doesn’t mean I understand it.”

“You only bring it up because you’re bored and it’s the most interesting thing that happens in this town, admit it.”

“Maybe I am. Oh! We should jail _you_ for drinking that monstrosity. That’d be some excitement.”

Niall just laughed and went back to his drink, staring out the window at the falling sun. He and Louis were both officers, and they spent almost every weekday driving around the small town and answering any calls that went to the station. Mostly, they just took calls like public disturbance, noise complaints, loitering, and etcetera. Once, though, they got a streaker. That was fun. Niall held hope that fun things like that could happen again.

“Should we go make our rounds again?” Niall suggested, before suddenly a call came through on the police radio. Louis and Niall exchanged a look before Niall picked up with a, “Officers Horan and Tomlinson here.”

“Hello, Officers. We received a call from the address 4325, Front Street. We’re pretty sure it was just a prank call, but we’d like you to check it out, just to be safe.”

“Sure thing,” Niall said, turning on the engine and beginning the short trek to Front Street. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Before the radio crackled out, the person on the other end – Liam, most likely. That boy never let go of the radios – said, “No worries…odd call, too. It sounded like a child.”

Niall smirked, glancing over at Louis. “I think we’ve got a misdial here.”

Louis faked shock. “Well! Guess we won’t be arresting you after all!”

-*-*-*-*-*-

Harry had finally gotten the kitchen under control (while playing a very intense Scavenger Hunt with Leia) when the doorbell rang. “That’s probably dinner,” she said. “Can you wait here for me while I go get the pizza?”

Leia nodded eagerly, her stomach rumbling just from the thought of the food. Harry smiled, ruffling her daughter’s hair a little before grabbing a 20 and opening the door. “Thanks, keep the change,” she said before she even got the door open, but she immediately stopped when she saw who was standing on the other side.

Someone, dressed in full police uniform, was standing there, and to say Harry was shocked would be an understatement. He was smiling, with bright blond hair and blue eyes. The nametag on his uniform said ‘Horan.’ And even though he was holding a pizza box, Harry was pretty sure he was _not_ the pizza delivery boy.

“Um,” she said, blinking a couple times. “Sorry, can I – can I help you?”

“Sorry to intrude, ma’am,” he said smoothly, an Irish accent tinting his words. “Someone called 911 from your house earlier, and I just want to make sure everything’s alright. Also, since someone pulled up with this pizza, I figured I’d deliver that for you, too.”

Harry still didn’t know what to say. Two possibilities were swirling in her head, and ‘you’re cute’ definitely was not the right one, even though she kept wanting to say it. “Sorry, no one called 911 from here.”

The policeman shrugged. “I was told a call was received, but it looks like everything’s alright…”

Just then, Leia came running over from the kitchen, grabbing onto Harry’s leg again. “Hi!” she chirped, staring up at the policeman with wide eyes. “My name’s Leia.”

“Hey, Leia,” he said, smiling warmly with his mouth and eyes, too. “I’m Niall. It’s nice to meet you.”

The pieces suddenly came together in Harry’s head – and not all of them were focused on how she thought Niall was a really nice name. “Leia, honey, did you call 911 earlier?”

Leia looked up innocently. “Yes…I was all grown up!”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh slightly. “Oh, baby, you should only call that number if you have an _emergency,_ remember?”

“Oops,” Leia giggled. “Sorry!”

“Sorry,” Harry repeated, to Niall this time. “Thanks for coming, though.”

“Are you leaving?!” Leia cried suddenly, taking a step towards Harry. “You have pizza! And you’re nice. You should stay.”

Harry’s eyes widened and so did Niall’s. “Oh, thanks Leia, but I shouldn’t intrude.”

Leia looked up at Harry again. She should probably say no, and not invite him in, but that would be rude and plus Leia was sort of giving her a chance to actually ask a guy to come in, so… “You should!” she blurted before she could stop herself. “Can’t deny Leia, right? That is, if you’re not on the job. And if you are, then it’s my bad. Totally my bad.” Maybe there was a reason that she didn’t do this.

And then he did that smile-with-his-eyes thing, and Harry didn’t regret it. “Thanks,” he said. “Don’t worry, it’s almost the end of my shift anyways. I’ll just let my partner know-”

He was interrupted by someone in the police car outside yelling, “Don’t mess up!” before the car roared to life and drove down the road.

“Well,” Niall said, turning. “I guess that’s that.”

Harry laughed. “Um, why don’t you come in…I’ll take that pizza from you, thanks for that, by the way…”

So that was how Harry ended up at her kitchen table with her daughter and a police officer, eating pepperoni pizza. Really, she was still trying to figure out how events had worked this way when Niall asked, “So tell me. Why this town, of all places?”

“It is pretty quiet here, isn’t it?” Harry agreed, laughing. “But…that’s probably why I chose this place, really. To get away from it all, from the craziness I used to have.”

“I get that,” Niall said. “I used to live in a city, and well, being a cop there is a pretty demanding thing.”

“I can imagine. Let me guess – streakers every day, not once a year, right?”

Niall’s eyes perked up. “You remember that?”

Harry scoffed. “How could I not? He ran through the entire town before he was caught!”

“Caught by yours truly.”

“Could’ve done a little better on the reaction time, mister ‘I-used-to-live-in-a-city.’”

“Hey, I’d like to see you try!”

After that conversation, the night got a lot easier. Leia even chipped in sometimes, causing both of them to laugh whenever she didn’t understand a metaphor or a word correctly.

Sadly, though, they finished the pizza and it was time for Niall to leave. “This was fun,” he said, standing. “I’d like to do it again sometime?”

Relief broke out in Harry’s chest. “So would I. You know. Whenever.”

“Here.” Niall reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen, writing down a phone number on the empty pizza box. “I’m available whenever you want,” he said, and then winced. “Damn, that sounded kind of arrogant, didn’t it?”

“Nah,” Harry said, laughing. “I’ll just have to keep you on your toes.”

Niall smiled. Harry really couldn’t get enough of those eyes. “See you later?”

“Definitely.”

And then he was gone, and Harry was staring at a closed door, a million thoughts going through her head. She looked down to see Leia, like always, arms closed around her leg. “Leia,” Harry said, “You may have just helped me far more than you know.”

Leia sighed. “Are you trying to get me to help you clean again?”

Harry broke out laughing, and this time, didn’t stop.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Playing hard-to-get didn’t seem fair, not after the fun she’d had, so Harry only waited a day to call. Waiting for someone to pick up was torture. What if he didn’t? What if he was kidding? What if this is a prank number, and she was being punk’d?

Finally, though, she heard a _click_ come from the other side and someone said, “Hi, this is Officer Niall Horan here, how can I help you?”

Well, she’d got this far; there was no backing out now. “Hi, Officer Niall Horan,” she said. “You wrote your number on a pizza box, and apparently gave me your work one.”

There was some laughter on the other end which warmed Harry’s heart, she couldn’t lie. “I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss your call.”

“That’s sweet,” she said, and she meant it. “But trust me, Leia would never let me give up.”

“Ha. Say hi to her for me…but speaking of Leia, she’d never let me end this call and not ask you out for a coffee, so…”

“Well then, she’d never let me say no.”

“Saturday? One o’clock, at the one down the street from your place?”

Harry smiled. “Sure. See you then.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

Harry arrived at the small coffee shop about forty minutes before one. She’d made sure the babysitter was there, of course, but she couldn’t bear the thought of being late to her first date in forever. Plus, she really liked this guy, even if the way they’d met had been completely by chance. Maybe she should let Leia on the phone more often if this is what came out of it.

Still, Niall arrived right at the turn of the hour, not dressed in uniform this time. His eyes fell on her and they both smiled as he slid into the booth. “Nice to see you again,” he said. “How’ve you been?”

“Great,” she said honestly. “It’s been great…and you?”

“No streakers, if that’s what you’re getting at,” he laughed. “But, I have had seven noise complaints this past week. One more and it’s a record…maybe I should just throw a party.”

“And what a fantastic party it would be,” she laughed.

And it went just like that. The two of them sat for a long time, discussing everything, from Niall’s job to Harry’s job (she worked at a bakery whenever she could find a babysitter), to their likes, dislikes, and even debating what colour eyes were the best. (Don’t tell anyone, but Harry was officially Team Blue).

Slowly, though, the conversation got more serious. “So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Niall said slowly, “What happened to Leia’s father?” He was silent for a few seconds and then he jumped back in, “That’s not a first date topic. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.”

“No, it’s okay,” Harry sighed. “Leia’s father…long story short, I thought he was a good guy and he really wasn’t. I left him, ran away with Leia practically, and came to this town, only because it was so quiet.”

“Well, can’t blame you for the choice,” Niall agreed. “Though he doesn’t sound like a good guy at all. Anyone who would drive you to leave isn’t good. You deserve better, you and Leia both.”

Harry just smiled. It was okay – she’d found better.

-*-*-*-*-*-

When Harry got home, she figured it was time that she asked Leia how she felt. Even if they were only on the first date, she knew that she wanted to turn what she had with Niall into something more. But if Leia didn’t want that, it couldn’t happen. Four years old or not, Leia was Harry’s everything, and without her, she’d be lost.

“Hey, Leia,” she called, and as predicted, Leia ran towards her and grabbed onto her leg. Laughing, Harry paid the babysitter and picked Leia up, carrying her over to the couch. “I have to ask you something, okay?”

“Okay,” Leia said, shrugging and laughing as Harry put her down.

“Remember that policeman who came to our house? The one with the pizza?”

Leia’s eyes brightened. “Yeah! He was funny, I remember him.”

“Yeah, he was, wasn’t he?” Leia nodded enthusiastically, causing Harry to laugh, again. She just couldn’t be sad around her daughter. “Well…mommy really likes him, a lot. Are you okay if you start seeing more of him?”

Leia blinked, like she was lost in thought. “Will he tell more jokes?”

“Yeah, baby, lots of jokes.”

“Okay,” Leia said. “But they better be good!”

Harry chuckled. “I’ll be sure to let him know.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

Oh, and she definitely let him know.

Every time he came over – which was a lot, in the next few months – he always had at least one joke ready to tell Leia, and she loved every single one of them, always begging for more even when he didn’t have any. Eventually, Leia even started latching onto him like she did Harry, which was always nice to see – she was comfortable with him, and that eased a lot of worry for Harry.

Of course, now she and Niall were in that strange phase, the one where she wasn’t sure if it was serious or not, where she had to tread extra carefully or else she was worried she’d screw it up. One day, something would happen to make it official or to tear it down, but she didn’t know if she was ready for the worst, not with him.

Whatever the case, she just knew she was happy, and that was good enough for now.

-*-*-*-*-*-

“What? What do you mean you can’t come?”

“I’m really sorry, Harry, but it’s a family emergency. I can try to find someone else but…I’m so sorry to cancel at such short notice.”

Harry sighed as her eyes followed Leia as she ran around the room. She was talking to her friend and Leia’s most common babysitter, Sara, but now, twenty minutes before she was supposed to show up, Sara was cancelling. “No, it’s okay,” Harry said. “Family comes first. Thanks for letting me know.”

It was definitely too late to call anyone, and Niall would be on shift. She knew he’d come anyways, but it wasn’t fair to place that on him. Finally, she let out a long breath, and said to Leia, “Hey baby, you wanna come to work with me today?”

Leia turned and practically squealed. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Harry let out a laugh of relief. At least there was one person who wasn’t objecting. “Alright then, let’s go.” Picking Leia up just to make the girl happy, together they got her ready and into the small car, taking the five minute drive there. Normally Harry walked, but she didn’t want Leia to get tired, and this was just safer.

They arrived at the bakery shortly, Leia jumping dramatically out of the car and then bouncing up and down on the spot, anxious to get moving. “Come on, why don’t we go inside?” Harry suggested, securely grabbing her hand and walking in the store.

“Harry! You brought Leia!”

Harry laughed and nodded to Zayn, one of the people she worked with. “The babysitter cancelled,” Harry explained, bringing Leia back behind the counter. “Do you think you can keep an eye on her in the back? I don’t want her to get lost…”

“No problem,” Zayn agreed instantly. Leia already knew Zayn, and she was not shy about scampering towards him and grabbing his hand instead.

“See you soon, baby!” Harry called, causing Leia to turn and give her a goodbye wave, before Zayn led her into the back room where he worked and Harry took her place at the cash. Sighing, she made sure everything was organized before hours, and customers started rolling in.

Today was “Pie Thursday” and that meant almost every single person in the tiny town would stop by at one point to get a slice of their famous cherry pie. To be honest, Harry had tasted better in her lifetime, but she supposed occasions like this were few and far between here.

Leia came out a couple times to see her, too, but mostly Harry made sure she was out of the way and didn’t get too scared or confused by the influx of people. It unnerved her a bit, having Leia here. Her safety was always at the back of her mind.

At noon, when the initial rush for pie was over and business was coming to a more normal speed, Harry was just about ready to fall asleep at the counter. Thursday was always her day at the cash, which made it the worst day, but she managed to fight through it, just so she could see Leia again.

Just when she was about to give up, though, Niall walked through the door. He was wearing his police uniform, which meant he was on shift, but that didn’t matter – he was _here_ , and that instantly made Harry’s day better.

“Came here for the pie?” Harry asked once he stepped up to the counter.

“Yeah, you know, I heard here was the place,” he replied, smiling, and throwing down a bill on the counter. “In reality, though, I’ll take some…do you get off soon?”

Harry gave him a face. “No…I’m here until closing…”

“Ah, it’s too bad,” Niall said. “Guess I’m just going to have to stay here…”

Harry laughed, writing up his order and passing it back to another worker. “I’m sure you’ll catch some crime here. Look over there! That man’s eating his pie with a _spoon_.”

“Criminal,” Niall agreed. “Just criminal.”

“Seriously, though, I don’t want to keep you…” Harry said, even though she kind of did.

“You’re not,” Niall said, but just as he said it, Zayn came bursting through the back doors, looking like he’d just seen a ghost.

“Harry!” he cried, so loudly a few customers muttered and looked over.

“Zayn?” Harry replied, confused. Quickly, she asked another girl to temporarily take over the counter and she moved to Zayn. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Niall following.

“Harry, I – she was there, and then I turned, and she just _wasn’t_ anymore!”

Harry’s blood turned cold. Somehow, she knew just what he was talking about. “Are you sure?” she said, her voice soft, thoughts running at a million miles an hour.

Zayn nodded, the expression on his face a mix of guilt, sadness and desperation. “I looked everywhere. I don’t know where she could’ve gone.”

“Wait.” It was only then Harry remembered Niall was here. “What’s going on?”

“Leia,” she whispered. “Leia’s gone.” Niall’s face went pale and then he pulled out his radio, talking to someone at a million miles an hour, but Harry wasn’t listening anymore. She gave herself five seconds, and only five, to pull herself together. Then, when that was over, she turned back to Zayn.

“I need you to stay here,” she said, “In case she comes back.” Harry turned to the girl now at the counter. “I need you to keep doing the cash. Niall-”

“The police know and Louis is outside. We’ll both go looking for her. If we can’t find her, we’ll get the rest of the station involved.”

Harry had no time to admire his focus – all her thoughts were on Leia’s safety. Anything could’ve happened by now. “I need to go with you,” she said to him. “I need to do _something._ ”

“Okay,” Niall said. “Let’s go.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

Niall could tell that Harry was a mess, and rightfully so. He had no idea what it must feel like, to not know if your child was safe, or okay, or unharmed – he wasn’t Leia’s father and even he was freaking out. But he had to stay calm; if not for his job, then definitely for Harry.

They’d been driving through the streets for what felt like hours now, but it couldn’t have been that long. Louis had found himself a second car, and he’d started on the opposite end of town, sweeping the streets and meeting Niall in the middle. Niall really hoped his partner was having more luck.

Finally, he found himself at Central Park. It was quite smaller than the New York version, but it was exactly in the center of town. Lots of people were milling about and Niall had to crane his neck to see if anyone who looked like Leia was there, and for a second he didn’t see anything, but then-

“Got her,” Niall said, practically throwing the door open and reaching one hand for his gun. He’d found Leia, all right, but she was with someone – a man, and he didn’t look friendly. In fact, Niall was sure he’d seen him before, but more importantly? His arm was around Leia and he was leading her away, _fast._

“Stop!” he called, hurrying across the park and securing the grip on his gun. He heard Harry get out too but he held his other hand up to stop her before she got herself hurt. He owed both of them, and for that, he would do everything he could.

The man didn’t turn, so Niall moved faster. “You! With the girl! Stop, this is police!” He’d almost caught up to them. People were clearing the area with panic, but Niall didn’t reassure them like he was supposed to; he just moved forwards, keeping his eyes on the man.

The man looked back at him and his eyes widened. “This is my daughter,” he said, his voice slow and cold, shooting shivers up Niall’s spine.

“Yeah, nice try,” Niall said, bringing out his gun a little bit, causing the man to blink in surprise. “Leia? I want you to come over here, nice and slow, okay?”

Leia turned, her small eyes locking with his. Niall’s heart broke when he saw the pure fear in hers. She moved one step forwards, but the man brought an arm out to stop her. “Niall,” she cried, her voice cracking.

“Let. Her. Go,” Niall ordered, his tone as even as possible. When the man didn’t move, he finally pulled the gun out all the way and pointed it straight at the man’s head.

The man didn’t move at first, but slowly, he drew his arm back and Leia ran over to Niall, latching herself onto his leg and sobbing. “It’s going to be okay, Leia,” he said. “Your mom is behind me, okay? Go over there. You’re going to be fine.” Leia didn’t want to let him go, but he urged her back and heard Harry’s voice crack when the two finally reunited.

Niall’s hand didn’t waver. “You’re under arrest,” he said to the man. “Get down, hands where I can see them.” The man did. Now Niall knew – the fear of getting shot can really motivate people.

Once he was handcuffed, Niall saw Louis’ car pull up and his partner got out. “This the guy?” Louis asked, looking him over.

“Yeah.”

“Not surprised. We’ve arrested him before.” Louis walked to him and yanked him upwards. “And this makes one time too many, I think.”

It didn’t take long to get the man in Louis’ car and headed off to the station. Finally, though, when Niall was sure that he was gone and the threat wasn’t a threat anymore, he turned back to Harry and Leia.

Instantly, he was smothered in a hug. “Thank you,” Harry whispered in his ear, her voice soft. He knew she’d been crying, but he just hugged her back, rubbing circles on her back for comfort.

“It’s okay now,” he said. “I would never let anyone hurt you, or your family.”

Harry drew back and looked him straight in the eye. “I know,” she said softly. Even though he could feel Leia’s hands on his leg, and the heat was hot enough to fry an egg on the ground, Niall didn’t think anything else mattered as he stared into her eyes.

And then she kissed him, and everything slid into place. It was funny, how a series of tiny events can lead up to the most important moment of your life.

“I know,” she said, drawing back. “I always have.”

And in a way, he did, too.

 

            **~FIN**


End file.
